Suchergebnisse

AbstractPractising Orthodox Christians in central Serbia live their liturgical lives within the idiom of Serbian peoplehood. This article probes the 'people' (narod) – perceived locally as an historically and geographically rooted ethno‐moral collectivity – as a core concept of belonging which is key for understanding post‐Yugoslav Orthodox life. The 'people' functions as a this‐worldly collective identity within which my interlocutors situate themselves as Orthodox persons, and through which they approach the Divine. Threats to Serb identity serve to foreground peoplehood as the supposedly prime site for Orthodox flourishing. Moving beyond state‐oriented analyses of 'religious nationalism', the article demonstrates not how 'nationalism' can be understood through 'religion', but how, to use Orthodox Serbs' own terminology, faith can be understood through the prism of peoplehood.

Abstract
The authors examine the relationship between Church and state in Serbia since the election of the new patriarch in February 2021. They demonstrate the ways in which Church and state have begun to take divergent paths. This is not to suggest that political and ecclesiastical power are not deeply entwined in contemporary Serbia—they are. However, the authors show how—contrary to accounts which present Church and state as practically homologous—clerical and political leaders are increasingly pulling in different directions. They evaluate the key features of what has so far been a brief, but momentous tenure of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije. A particular emphasis is placed on the new patriarch's ecclesiastical diplomacy, the ever-increasing role of the Church as a mnemonic agent, the Church's reaction to Belgrade hosting an LGBT pride parade and, finally, its rapport with the Serbian government.